SINGAPORE — Two Singaporeans are feared dead after a scuba diving vessel caught fire and sank off the California coast in the United States.

Thirty-four people were killed in the pre-dawn accident on the Conception boat on Monday (Sept 2). The badly burned bodies of all but one of the victims’ bodies have been recovered, US officials said.

According to US authorities, the names of two Singaporeans are listed on the passenger manifest of the Conception, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Thursday.

Search operations and identification of the victims by the US are ongoing, MFA said.

“The Singapore Consulate-General in San Francisco is in close contact with the local authorities and has deployed an officer on the ground to gather more information about the two Singaporeans,” it said.

The ministry added that it is in contact with the Singaporeans’ next-of-kin and will render assistance to them.

The only survivors of the accident, the captain and four crew members, were on deck when the flames erupted shortly after 3am Pacific time on Monday (6pm Singapore time) and were able to escape in an inflatable life boat, US investigators said.

The 34 victims, including passengers and one crew member, were sleeping below deck. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown has said the two exits, a stairway to the galley and an escape hatch, may have both been blocked by fire. CNA

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